


ethical paradox

by miseteshiningstar



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Everyone is friends, Heavy Angst, Moral Dilemmas, Murder, more is going on in the background than they think, ouma is dead by the fourth sentence, shuichi tries to make kaito into an accomplice and it backfires, takes place during chapter 2, this is so messed up, video from ch1 is just being used here instead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22874680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miseteshiningstar/pseuds/miseteshiningstar
Summary: When the group refuses to kill after what happened with Rantaro and Kaede, the game is forced along, but not in the way anyone hoped.Due to his seemingly ridiculous demands, Shuichi is forced to kill Ouma and become the second blackened. However, even with the lives of everyone else at stake, he doesn't want to die.What happens when your wishes of "please let it be someone else" come true? When that innocent 'someone else' takes your place and you have to choose if it's you or them that dies?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	ethical paradox

_Oh God. Oh God. Oh God._ Is all Shuichi can think as he stands in the AV room, now a bloody mess all because of _him._

Ouma lays on the floor below him, continuing to bleed out from the stab wound in his throat. He was already dead the moment the blade was plunged into him, blood quickly covering the left side of his body and the front of his attacker’s, but the blood still has yet to stop flowing. The look on his face is almost poetic, his eyes closed and mouth curved into a small smile, as if he was hoping for this to happen. Maybe it’s only the river of bright red pouring from him and puddling behind his head that ruins it.

But this wasn’t Shuichi’s fault, was it? He hadn’t wanted to kill Ouma like this… He hadn’t wanted to kill _anyone,_ but when he was approached by him for seemingly no reason with a knife, things quickly took a turn.

_“Make the killing start again!” Ouma had said. “I’m the best option, you know. It’s either you or me, or we all die in twenty minutes!”_

_Shuichi had tried to get out of it, but it didn’t work_ . _“B-but I can’t! I’m not killing you!”_

_“If you don’t kill me I’ll kill you and make it look like a suicide.” Ouma deadpanned, not hesitating with his words._

_“But the rest of us would die anyway…? What would be the point of that…?”_

_“To make it a fun way to go, duh! Everyone being killed just because a murder hasn’t occured in weeks is so boring! Just because everyone refused to kill after the whole thing with Rantaro and Kaede and decided to become friends instead, we have to die? At least if one of us dies and we don’t figure out who did it it’s a better way to die than_ this. _” Ouma gestured to the monitor behind him, blaring that God-awful music. “So, what do you say? Hate me enough to kill me yet?”_

_While that was true, and he had annoyed everyone on a daily basis, that didn’t mean Shuichi wanted to murder him. Doing that would have him killed as well… Of course the others would figure out he did it. Knowing Ouma he probably left a note in his room saying he went to meet him._

_Only, Shuichi took too long to answer, and by then Ouma lunged at him. His only option was to shout, “Fine!”_

_Ouma immediately stopped. “You’ll do it? Yay! You know, you were always my favorite.”_

_“I’m not doing this for you.” Shuichi said bitterly._ Maybe our lives are good enough to stop this...

_“That’s fine. Now do it! Stab me right here,” Ouma said, pointing to a spot on his throat, “it’ll kill me instantly and no one would think someone like you did it.”_

_“Okay…” Shuichi took the knife from Ouma’s outstretched hand, trembling. “I’m so sorry.”_

_“What are you apologizing for? Nobody wants to be associated with a liar like me! Now do it. End my suffering.”_

_But… Something about that sounded odd. “Ouma, it doesn’t seem like you’re trying to get me to kill you just to stop us for dying boring deaths.”_

_“So you saw through that! Well, I’m lying, of course. I just wanted to be foiled by you one last time.”_

God, you’re not making this easy. _“Anything else you want to get out?”_

_Ouma smiled, only this was the first time Shuichi thought it was genuine. “Nope. Go on, Shuichi. No one’s gonna blame you.”_

_So, with his heart pounding a mile a minute, Shuichi plunged the knife into Ouma’s throat._

Now Shuichi stands here, processing the weight of what he’s just done. 

The blood on his clothes.

His face.

The blood on the floor.

On the monitor.

Ouma’s lifeless body.

All because of him.

He screams.

He screams until his own throat is on fire.

What is he supposed to do? _He’s_ the detective here! He can’t lead the investigation astray… It would be wrong…

But he doesn’t want to die. If only Ouma had picked someone else…

Now he has to get rid of these clothes.

He runs out of the room, through the game room, and into the basement hallway. A quick scan of his surroundings shows no one else nearby, and he runs to the stairs, quietly walking up. He’s read through enough cases and watched enough documentaries about these things on TV in the past… He could get through this.

Crouched on the stairs to hide the blood covering him, he scans the hall ahead. _It’s only one more door… Shit!_ Movement at the far end of the hall; someone walking out of one of the bathrooms. Shuichi considers running back down to the basement, but it’s only Kaito.

Would it be a good idea to get him involved too? Shuichi knows most cases with accomplices end with the accomplice confessing (usually for a reward), but maybe…?

There’s no logical way for Shuichi to get back to the dorms and change easily without running into anyone else on the way… It would incriminate him immediately if someone were to see him covered in blood…

If he remembers right, Kaito doesn’t like Ouma in the first place. And out of everyone here, he’s Shuichi’s best option.

Against his better judgement, Shuichi calls out to him from his crouching position on the stairs. “Kaito!” 

The taller one notices him, and starts to walk over, a grin on his face. However, it quickly fades when he gets a few feet away from Shuichi, who silently curses himself.

Kaito’s face pales. “Shuichi?”

_I need to talk fast._ “I need your help. I-I just did something unforgivable and I don’t know what to do… I n-need to get to my dorm.”

“Why did you…” He looks prepared to run away at any second.

“That’s not important right now!” Shuichi snaps, terror threatening to paralyze him. “Kaito, please.”

“Okay, okay…” Kaito runs a hand through his hair, mulling the situation over for a moment. “Um… Y-you need to get to your dorm, right?”

Shuichi nods. _Please don’t run._

“Alright,” Kaito shrugs his coat off of his shoulders, handing it to Shuichi, “put this on.”

“To cover up the blood?” Shuichi asks, doing as he’s told.

“And to give you an alibi. Let’s go.” Kaito turns away and starts going back down the hall, Shuichi following as closely as he can.

When they walk past the front door Shuichi was planning on walking through, his concerns grow. “Where are we going?” 

Kaito sighs, and Shuichi can see his shoulders shaking. “...I want to believe that you didn’t do any of this in cold blood so I’m going to help you out as well as I can.”

“And that means…?”

“Praying no one suspects you and you going along with the lie I’m about to tell everyone.”

_The lie…_ “Okay…”

“You ready? Make sure you keep that closed as tightly as you can.” Kaito turns around momentarily to wrap his coat tighter around Shuichi in an attempt to cover the blood.

“What are we doing?” Shuichi asks.

“You’ll see.” Kaito continues to lead Shuichi through the hall until they get to the dining hall, where they walk in.

_Here?! What if someone’s here?!_ Shuichi can’t muster the courage to say how horrible this idea is. _Someone’s going to see…_ He pulls up the collar of Kaito’s coat to help cover any blood that might still be on his face or neck, hoping no one can see.

The only people in the room are Kirumi, Tsumugi, and Korekiyo. The three look up when they walk in, but don’t seem to suspect anything as the video plays on the monitor in here too.

“Oh good, Kirumi!” Kaito starts, walking ahead. “Can you get Shuichi a glass of water? I found him trying to get through the tunnel again and I think he’s dehydrated.”

“Of course. I’ll be back with it momentarily.” Kirumi sets a tray down on the table before making her way to the kitchen.

“You’re trying that endless mess again?” Korekiyo asks. “I thought we confirmed that there was no end to it.”

“I just wanted to try again…” Shuichi starts, hoping to make it convincing. “Besides, if we're all going to die soon anyway, I at least figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep trying.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw you there on my Monopad.” Kaito laughs. “I had to go see for myself if you were really trying it again.”

“What’s with the coat?” Tsumugi questions, and the two tense up immediately.

But without missing a beat, Kaito replies, “It’s cold underground, you know, so I gave it to him. I’ve got plenty more in my room, so it’s fine.”

Somehow she doesn’t seem convinced. “Alright.” 

Kirumi returns with a glass of ice water a moment later and gives it to Shuichi. “I hope this helps.”

“Thank you.” He replies, taking a sip. “I’ll go wash up in a minute.”

“Oh, do you want me to launder your clothes for you?”

“Um, maybe after I’m done? I appreciate it, Kirumi.”

“You’re welcome.”

Shuichi leaves the dining hall as calmly and quickly as he can, surprised to find Kaito still by his side a moment later. “You know you don’t have to keep going with me…”

“I’m only here to prove that my best friend isn’t a cold blooded killer.” Kaito whispers. “So, who was it?”

“Um--” Shuichi starts, but is cut off by a scream at the end of the hall. _Oh, God._ The fear that fills him paralyzes him for what feels like an eternity before Kaito pulls him along down the hall, where Shuichi knows they’re going to find Ouma’s body.

* * *

“O-oh thank God,” Himiko, the source of the scream, gasps out, “I-I-I didn’t d-do it!”

“We know, Himiko.” Kaito assures before stepping forward to see the body, and goes rigid.

It’s worse than Shuichi remembers. Ouma’s blood seems to have splattered in more places than he originally thought…

The video on the monitor abruptly cuts out, and is replaced by Monokuma once again. 

“A body has been discovered! Everyone, report to the AV room!”

_The body discovery announcement…?_ Shuichi pales. _There’s three of us, but the announcements don’t include the killer… Who…?_ He looks to Kaito for any kind of reassurance, but doesn’t get so much as a look back.

* * *

Soon the room fills with the remaining survivors, and Shuichi is forced to investigate the very murder he committed, while still _wearing_ the evidence. A quick look at the Monokuma File shows that the cause of death was a stab to the throat, and that the time of death was around 7:30PM. It was nearly 8:00 now.

Shuichi starts off how he normally would, getting everyone’s alibis for around the time of death. They all check out, except for his and Kaito’s. But… No one would really need to know that Shuichi _wasn’t_ in the tunnel or that Kaito _wasn’t_ looking for him, right? _“Well, why_ were _you looking for him?” “I wanted to make sure he hadn’t been murdered since I last saw him this afternoon!”_

Looking at the body and the scene doesn’t provide any clues, so the group moves on to investigate Ouma’s room. _Maybe there’s something in here…_ But the only thing they find that could be used as evidence is a sticky note with the words, “meet gonta @ 7:15 av rm” scribbled on it that immediately catches everyone’s attention. There was a second, smaller sticky note with, “duel bff shuichi @ 4” that was almost immediately discarded.

“Gonta, were you supposed to meet Ouma today?” Tsumugi asks, after finding the first note.

“Hmm? No, Gonta not meeting Ouma until tomorrow…” He responds, unaware of what Tsumugi is implying.

“Uh-huh. Do you mind if we check your room too?”

“Not at all! Gonta hopes you find what you need!”

As the group splits to look in different places, with a few deciding to check out the basement again and others looking in Gonta’s room and lab, Shuichi tries to fix things on his end.

He finds Kaito and pulls him aside before he leaves the room, praying he’ll still be willing to listen. “I need to talk to you,” he whispers, trying not to draw suspicion from the few people still leaving the room.

“Get it over with quick.” Kaito responds, his mood having shifted from earlier.

“Please don’t think I did it willingly.”

“I saw that mess. There’s no way you didn’t want to do it.”

“N-no, he made me do it! If I didn’t kill him he was going to kill me and have you all killed in the trial! I had to...”

“And who’s going to believe that?” Kaito scoffs. “Shuichi, you need to get your story straight.”

“It’s the truth! You believe me, right?”

Kaito hesitates before responding. “...I don’t know. You had me until I saw his body, but now I don’t know if I can believe a word you say.”

_You… don’t?_ “Please! I didn’t want to!”

“You say that, but you still killed him!” Kaito snaps. “Maybe you should’ve just let him kill you instead.”

The words hit Shuichi like a truck. “Huh? Y-you wish I died instead…?”

“No, wait, I didn’t mean it that way. I just… if you died instead we wouldn’t be in _this_ mess.”

“ _T_ _his_ mess?”

“Meaning you wouldn’t be standing in front of me covered in blood and I wouldn’t have to decide if I want to let you die or be the reason everyone else does.” Kaito gestures wildly. “Why’d you have to pick me, Shuichi?”

“I thought you could help me…” Shuichi says quietly, defeated.

“You thought I could help you _cover up evidence._ But, lucky you, there’s nothing to bother covering up but your clothes and whereabouts! Tell me, what do you want from this? To ruin the trial so the rest of us die? Or confess so it’s only you?”

“I don’t want to die…”

“Neither do I! But in the end of the day it’s going to be one of us.”

“I know there’s a way we can--”

“No, there isn’t. There’s no way around this. I’m sorry, but I need to think by myself before the trial.”

“But I need t--”

“You’re on your own. Get yourself cleaned up.” Kaito mutters before walking away, leaving Shuichi in the mess he’s made.

Shuichi can’t bother to try stopping him.

There’s no way Kaito would tell everyone that Shuichi did it, right? Right?

But does Shuichi really want him to keep that a secret? If he does he’d be signing his own death warrant, but if he doesn’t… He’d be signing Shuichi’s.

_God, I’m going to die._

**Author's Note:**

> yeah im sorry


End file.
